Big drama at Oriel Park tonight as Dundalk leapfrogged their big rivals Cork City with an injury time winner.

Under pressure from the league's top scorer Patrick Hoban, young City centre-half Sean McLaughlin got the last touch past Mark McNulty as they challenged for sub Ronan Murray's cross in the 92nd minute.

In the chaotic scenes that ensued as the rickety old ground rocked, Cork boss John Caulfield was sent to the stand.

Something had to give on a hot night that prompted ref Robert Harvey to allow water breaks at the midpoint of both halves.

Cork made the trip north after the mid-season break on the back of seven successive wins - one short of Dundalk's run - and, until the injury time dramatics, Caulfield would surely have been the happier that both records were falling.

Cork had started the better of the two sides, the busy Jimmy Keohane heading over from Graham Cummins' flick on.

But Dundalk assumed control from there, and it didn't take long for Cummins to become visibly frustrated. He was left fighting it out for meagre scraps as the Lilywhites penned Cork back for most of the remainder of the half.

But faced with a disciplined, organised and well-packed defence marshalled by Alan Bennett, their attempts to make the breakthrough too often floundered on over-elaboration.